The 27-year-old is yet to feature competitively for Villa this season after suffering an Achilles injury in the summer.

Despite doubts over whether N'Zogbia is part of Lambert's plans, the Scot is willing to bide his time before making a decision regarding the Frenchman.

"I always have an open mind. We'll see what happens in January but we need to get his injury cleared up first," he told the Birmingham Mail.

"I think an Achilles heel is a bad injury. When you get that, sometimes you're better off just breaking your leg because you can come back quicker than an Achilles heel. It's just a horrible injury to get, so we just have to see.

"He's still a way off. It's still a bit of a long-term one. I wouldn't have thought the whole season, but it will still be long term."

N'Zogbia joined the Villans for £9.5m from Wigan Athletic two years ago.